precision F-strike

English

Etymology

Coined by TV Tropes user Polymphus in 2008.

Noun

precision F-strike (plural precision F-strikes)

1. (fandom slang) A single, unexpected use of the word fuck for the purpose of emphasis or dramatic effect.
   • 2014 August 24, trogdorkiller, “BoJack Horseman - 1x08 - The Telescope”, in Reddit‎^[1], BoJackHorseman, archived from the original on 2022-08-18:

     Yes, a true Precision F Strike.

   • 2016 June 4, Rockah12, “Miranda's favorite curse word (from podcast)”, in Reddit‎^[2], Music, archived from the original on 2022-08-18:

     I think the line "Up against the wall, motherfucker" in We Can Be Together by Jefferson Airplane is a well-placed, impactful precision f-strike. What do you guys think? What's the best use of profanity in a song? Either a single swear in a song that's otherwise clean or a stand-out swear in a song full of profanity, what's the most well-done use of cursing in a song?

   • 2016 August 31, Lost_CapriSun, Twitter‎^[3], archived from the original on 2020-05-25:

     Good thing I censored that precision F-strike in the first two seconds of the Fake Sequelitis video then!

   • 2018 May 23, Chris Angelico, “how to handle captcha through machanize module or any module”, in comp.lang.python‎^[4] (Usenet), retrieved 2022-08-18:

     Obligatory XKCD: https://xkcd.com/810/ (caution, language - contains a precision F-strike)

   • 2018 August 2, PvtDustinEchoes, “The “Fuck” at the end of Petscop 14”, in Reddit‎^[5], Petscop, archived from the original on 2022-08-18:

     I have to say, the precision F-strikes in this series are incredible. The only other time I remember hearing a fuck was in Petscop 9, and it was the strongest line in the series.

   • 2020 January 14, Obamas_Tie, “This is where the fun begins”, in Reddit‎^[6], PrequelMemes, archived from the original on 2022-08-18:

     Revenge of the Sith is mature and dark enough that a precision F-strike can actually work in some scenes, at least imo. And not necessarily by Samuel L. Jackson either.

   • 2021 January 8, BrotherGrimace, “Miranda's favorite curse word (from podcast)”, in Reddit‎^[7], MirandaCosgrove, archived from the original on 2022-08-18:

     It's not like that - it was on NBC, not HBO, and it was more of a precision 'F' strike that caught the other characters off-guard. I taped the series, and later today, I'll upload that clip here, if I can do it right.

   • 2021 January 24, achmonstr, Twitter‎^[8], archived from the original on 2022-08-18:

     Expert use of the Precision F-Strike.

   • 2021 August 13, bekilledagain, Twitter‎^[9], archived from the original on 2022-08-18:

     cains speech is, made a point that he rarely cusses or "talks dirty" unless its like, precision f-strike
     hes the "does not say fuck but can if challenged"

   • 2022 January 31, Splotnik3, Twitter‎^[10], archived from the original on 2022-02-01:

     god those first few Offspring albums were so damn good, plus Bad Habit is still the best precision f-strike in music

   • 2022 June 25, IrisHeartfang, Twitter‎^[11], archived from the original on 2022-08-18:

     on one hand, i think certain characters saying fuck all the time makes their dialogue sound more natural bcuz yea sometimes it rly do be like that
     but otoh..... the sweet juicy pathos of that precision F-strike when u least expect it.....

Related terms

• cluster F-bomb